You could be saving some money this winter

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2013 at 7:59 AM

If Public Service North Carolina is your natural gas company, your heating bill will be a little lower than usual this winter.

Lauren Baheri

If Public Service North Carolina is your natural gas company, your heating bill will be a little lower than usual this winter. Gastonia-based PSNC said customers have been granted a 5-percent drop in the cost of gas. Residents can expect to save around 81 cents on next month’s bill, based on the amount an average home uses this season, PSNC spokeswoman Angie Townsend said. Those savings could be bigger when the cooler weather begins to move in.

“Right now people don’t think much about their heating bill because it’s warm,” Townsend said. In the winter, however, savings as a result of the rate decrease could jump to around $5 a month. What’s the reason for the drop? Wholesale gas prices are dropping, Townsend said.

That’s the money PSNC spends on purchasing gas. The a wholesale rate is considered a pass through cost, Townsend said, meaning whether that rate goes up or down it gets passed directly on to the customer. State regulations require that PSNC does not make a profit off of the cost difference, hence the decrease. The change takes effect Sept. 1 for PSNC users.

The utility company, wholly owned by SCANA Corp., serves 28 counties in North Carolina. It has approximately 495,000 customers. Customers of Piedmont Natural Gas, including those in Lincoln County, may be looking at a hike in rates, however.

Piedmont Natural Gas, which serves Mecklenburg and other surrounding counties, had a hearing Thursday night with state regulators to decide on rate changes. PNC was requesting a 10.5-percent hike in residential rates.

You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri.